Less obvious contributions range from pioneering engineers and chemists to the deserving but probably totally unexpected.

Those range from Concorde test pilot Brian Trubshaw and Herchel Smith, the chemist whose research led to the manufacture of the contraceptive pill, to Harold Davis, otherwise known as high-wire walker the Great Alzana, or US-born mouth organ virtuoso Larry Adler.

The publishers, the Oxford University Press, who invested the rest of the cash have written off any chances of making any money back on the 60-volume dictionary, mostly due to its £7,500 price tag.